Teen jolted by Taser recovering from cardiac arrest

ACLU criticizes cop's use of force

A 14-year-old state ward shot by a Chicago police sergeant's Taser stun gun was stable, conscious and taken off of a ventilator Wednesday as he recovered from cardiac arrest, county officials said.

The boy, who lives at a residential group home on the North Side, became enraged Monday morning when he was asked to remove his baseball cap. He broke four windows and battered three workers at the home run by Uhlich Children's Advantage Network, Chicago police said.

Police said the boy lunged at a police sergeant, who shot him with the Taser, a weapon that applies an electrical jolt.

Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris said his office is considering civil action after its investigation found the boy was no longer violent and was sitting on a couch when police arrived.

"I'm consistently hearing this boy never moved off the couch," Harris said. "If he did, it was after he got hit with the Taser gun."

County officials said they have no information to indicate the boy attacked anybody.

"That is the sort of force that should not be used on a juvenile in a facility of that kind. There are unlikely to be any versions of facts that would remotely justify that kind of behavior," said Benjamin Wolf, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "There are lots of ways to respond to a child jumping at you without using a Taser, particularly inside a residential facility."

Amnesty International has called the use of Tasers against children an "excessive and cruel use of force." Agency officials said they have reports of Tasers being fired by police in schools to break up fights or stop a juvenile from walking away.

In reaction to the Chicago case, Amnesty International renewed its call for police nationwide to stop using Tasers on children unless they pose an immediate threat.

"Instead of being an alternative to lethal force, police departments are clearly using Tasers in situations where they would have never used guns, batons, pepper spray or any other type of force," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Amnesty's executive director.

The Chicago teen was charged with three counts of aggravated battery for attacking workers at the home and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer, police said.

Hospital officials and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services declined to comment Wednesday.